How to earn 100,000
Miles & More miles
without flying.

Why 100,000 miles
is the right target

100,000 Miles & More miles unlocks a long-haul Business Class redemption from Switzerland to Asia or Australia. It covers a First Class seat to New York on a good pricing day. It's the threshold at which miles stop being an abstract number and start being a concrete travel plan.

The question most Swiss residents have is whether reaching 100,000 miles without flying is actually realistic. It is — and it's more achievable than most people think, especially in year one when welcome bonuses do the heavy lifting.

Note: Miles & More moved to dynamic pricing for Lufthansa Group flights (SWISS, Lufthansa, Austrian) in June 2025. Partner airline redemptions on other Star Alliance carriers still use the fixed chart — which often offers better value. Worth factoring into your planning.

Welcome bonuses —
the fast lane

The single fastest way to accumulate Miles & More miles in Switzerland is through welcome bonuses on new card applications. A well-timed application to the right card currently puts 5,000-25,000 miles in your account before you've spent a single franc on travel — Cornèrcard and Swisscard both run limited-time promotions several times a year with substantially higher bonuses (up to 60,000 miles as recently as May 2026), so it's worth checking current offers before applying.

There are two main issuers in Switzerland: Cornèrcard (Ticino-based, often overlooked) and Swisscard (the official SWISS-branded issuer). The Cornèrcard products consistently offer higher welcome bonuses and better base earning rates. Swisscard offers brand prestige and the SWISS co-branded experience.

Cornèrcard — the higher-bonus option

Card	Welcome bonus	Annual fee
Cornèrcard M&M Gold + Diners	10,000 miles	CHF 220 (CHF 110 year 1)
Cornèrcard M&M Platinum + Diners	15,000 miles	CHF 750
Cornèrcard M&M Classic + Diners	5,000 miles	CHF 140 (CHF 70 year 1)

These are the standard bonuses — Cornèrcard runs limited-time promotions several times a year with substantially higher bonuses (up to 60,000 miles on the Platinum combo, most recently through end of May 2026). No such promotion is currently running (as of August 2026), so the standard bonus applies — check the current Cornèrcard offer here before applying. The Gold combo was named best card with annual fee for 2026 by Handelszeitung — a useful independent signal.

Swisscard — the SWISS-branded option

Card	Welcome bonus	Extra benefit	Annual fee
SWISS M&M Platinum Duo	40,000 miles	Priority Pass + 3 ZRH Comfort Vouchers	CHF 700 (CHF 350 year 1)
SWISS M&M Gold Duo	30,000 miles	2 ZRH Comfort Vouchers	CHF 220 (CHF 110 year 1)
SWISS M&M Classic Duo	20,000 miles	1 ZRH Comfort Voucher	CHF 120 (CHF 60 year 1)

These bonuses are currently elevated — through 24 Sep 2026 they run at 40,000/30,000/20,000 miles instead of the standard 10,000/5,000/2,000. After that, the standard bonus applies again, so check miles-and-more-cards.ch before applying. Swisscard also runs a member-gets-member referral programme: if you apply via a personal referral from a current cardholder, you get an additional 10,000 miles on top. The referral code cannot be shared publicly — ask a current cardholder you know personally.

Everyday CHF spending —
miles from your Migros run

Once you have the right card, every franc you spend earns miles automatically. The key insight most Swiss people are missing: the Cornèrcard Diners Club card (included free with the Gold or Classic combo) earns 1 mile per CHF 1 spent — the best base rate available in Switzerland.

The Diners Club card isn't accepted at every merchant (it's less widely accepted than Visa or Mastercard), but for the merchants that do accept it, it outperforms every other Swiss card on pure earning rate. Use it wherever you can. Use the Visa for everywhere else.

Annual spend milestones — Cornèrcard Gold

Annual card spend	Bonus miles	Notes
CHF 10,000	+1,000	Calculated per card (Visa + Diners separately)
CHF 20,000	+3,000
CHF 30,000	+5,000	Achievable for most households routing expenses through one card

For an average Swiss household spending CHF 1,500/month (CHF 18,000/year) through the Cornèrcard Gold Diners, that's 18,000 miles from base spending plus the CHF 20,000 milestone bonus of 3,000 miles = 21,000 miles per year from day-to-day spending.

Coop Supercard —
miles from your grocery shop

The Coop Supercard is a free loyalty card that most Swiss households already have. What most people don't know: Coop Superpoints can be converted to Miles & More miles. The ratio is 2 Superpoints = 1 M&M mile.

Every CHF 2 spent at Coop (and Coop-owned stores including Interdiscount, ITS Travel, and others) earns 2 Superpoints = 1 M&M mile. For a household spending CHF 500/month at Coop, that's 3,000 additional miles per year — entirely from groceries you were already buying.

It's not a dramatic number on its own, but it costs nothing and requires no behaviour change. You're converting existing loyalty points that would otherwise sit unused.

Amex Membership Rewards —
the flexible reserve

This is where things get interesting. The Swiss Amex Platinum (issued by Swisscard) earns 1 Membership Rewards point per CHF 1 spent — the standard welcome bonus is 45,000 MR points.

MR points transfer to Miles & More at a 2:1 ratio in Switzerland (2 MR points = 1 M&M mile). This is worse than the 1:1 ratio on US Amex cards — but the welcome bonus is still one of the most powerful single earning events available to Swiss residents.

Amex offer	MR points	= M&M miles	Annual fee
Amex Platinum standard	45,000	22,500	CHF 900
Amex Gold	15,000	7,500	CHF 350 (CHF 175 year 1)

The golden rule: don't transfer MR points speculatively. Keep them in Amex until you've confirmed award availability and are ready to book. Once transferred, they can't come back. The flexibility is the value.

Other non-card partners —
worth knowing about

Beyond cards and Coop, Miles & More has partnerships with a range of non-flying partners in Switzerland. None of them will move the needle dramatically on their own, but they're worth knowing so you don't leave miles on the table.

Partner	How to earn	Rate
Zurich Insurance	Taking out qualifying insurance products	Variable — check current offer
Hertz / Sixt / Avis	Car rental bookings	500-2,000 miles per rental
Various hotels	Booking through M&M portal	1-3 miles per EUR spent
Buying miles (Bundle&Go)	Direct purchase from M&M	From ~CHF 0.03/mile — useful for small top-ups only

Year one — the realistic total

Here's what a Swiss resident applying for a Cornèrcard Gold combo (at standard rates) and spending CHF 1,500/month through it could realistically achieve in year one:

Source	Miles	Notes
Cornèrcard Gold welcome bonus	10,000	Standard offer — verify before applying
Swisscard M&M referral bonus	+10,000	Via personal referral from a current cardholder
Diners Club card spending (CHF 18,000/yr)	18,000	1 mile per CHF 1
Cornèrcard annual milestone bonus	3,000	At CHF 20k annual spend
Coop Supercard conversion	3,000	CHF 500/month Coop spend
Amex Platinum MR transfer (if also applied)	22,500	45,000 MR points at 2:1

Over 100,000 miles in year one is achievable for most Swiss households — provided you time your card applications to coincide with promotional welcome bonus periods, which change regularly.

Miles expiry —
the one thing people get wrong

Miles & More award miles expire after 36 months of account inactivity. "Activity" means making a qualifying transaction that credits miles to your account — which includes any purchase on a Cornèrcard or Swisscard M&M card.

The practical implication: as long as you use your miles card at least once per month for any eligible purchase, your miles never expire. This is easy to manage and costs nothing. Set up a small recurring payment on your card — a streaming subscription, a monthly bill — and your balance is protected indefinitely.

Frequently asked
questions